Chapter 6 - THE OTHER WOMAN“Do you know who Elena Vance is?” Jonathan asked, watching my reaction closely over the rim of his glasses.
I shook my head slowly, a heavy weight settling into the pit of my stomach. “No. I’ve never heard that name in my life. Mason told me he was an only child, and his parents passed away before we met. He had no close family.”
“She’s not his sister,” Jonathan said, tapping a few keys on his keyboard to pull up public records, property deeds, and social media profiles. “She’s his legal wife.”
The room seemed to spin for a second.
“His... what?” I stammered, gripping the edge of the conference table. “That’s impossible. We’ve been married for three years. We had a traditional ceremony, signed a marriage license—it’s registered with the state!”
“It is,” Jonathan agreed calmly. “Which means Mason committed bigamy. According to these records, Mason married Elena in Las Vegas five years ago. They never legally divorced. When he met you, he used a fake middle name and forged annulment documents to convince you he was single. He kept Elena hidden in another state, funding her lifestyle with money he earned from his initial tech startup, while playing the doting husband to you.”
A cold, blinding fury surged through my veins.
For three years, I had believed I was building a life with a man who loved me. I had supported him through the lean months of his startup, worked late nights to help him draft contracts, and trusted him implicitly. And all the while, I was just another asset on his balance sheet—a convenient prop in a multi-layered web of lies, deceit, and financial fraud.
And the worst part?
He had tried to murder me and his own newborn daughter on a snowy mountain road just to keep us from uncovering it all.
“Does Arthur know about this?” I asked, my voice dangerously steady.
“Not yet,” Jonathan replied. “I wanted to bring it to you first. Because if Elena finds out that Mason is currently sitting in a jail cell facing decades in prison, and that his assets are about to be seized by the courts, she’s going to move fast to protect her own interests. Or worse—she might try to claim rights to the very funds Mason stole from you.”
“Not on my watch,” I said, standing up and zipping up my coat. Lily stirred softly in her carrier, sensing my agitation. I placed a calming hand over her blanket. “Where is Elena living right now?”
Jonathan pulled a printed sheet from the printer and handed it to me. “A gated community in Aspen, Colorado. Just a few hours from where we are now.”
I looked down at the address, a cold, hard determination settling deep into my bones. Mason thought he had buried his secrets in the snow. He thought he could discard me and our daughter like trash and walk away to a fairy-tale wedding with a billionaire’s daughter.
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He was wrong.
The reckoning hadn't even started yet. And I was going to deliver it personally.
